21. Grace
That wasn’t quite the welcome home I had in mind, but damn, the man was so sexy, and when he danced with me in the living room, I was overcome with so many emotions, I just wanted to get out of my head for a moment.
Unpacking my bag and getting things organized for the work week, I make my way outside to sit with Matt as the sun goes down. I know that I need to have “the talk” with him. I need to tell him all these feelings I’m having, but it scares the ever-loving piss out of me to think that he might reject me. Ryan and Tinley made me feel a little better about my thoughts when I talked to them yet again, and Ryan even made a point to say that Matt had acted like a lost puppy during the race weekend. He hadn’t even smiled when Tinley had told him the phrase I’d said.
“Hey, babe, got you a glass of wine. Thought we might watch the sun go down,” Matt says as I go to sit beside him.
“Matt, we need to have a talk,” I start, after taking a long sip of my wine. Maybe if I drink enough, I’ll have the courage to talk about my feelings. Knowing that I need to put my big girl panties on, I take a deep breath and lay it all out on the line.
“When we started this, whatever it was,”—I wave my hand between us—“I thought it would be two months of us throwing objects at each other or hurling insults. I never thought it would turn into something.”
Looking down at my wine, I can feel myself wanting to shut down, but I push on. “Matt, you make me feel things that scare the living hell out of me. I haven’t been single for long, and I wasn’t looking for something, yet I think I may have started falling for you that first night in your hauler. I think I’ve tried to talk myself out of it. Yet when that reporter tried to drug you to get you in bed, I just knew that I had to do something. Yeah, I got a sentence for being fake married for two months, but I didn’t realize it was also going to make me see that my feelings are more than just hatred for the racing playboy.”
“Grace,” Matt says, pulling my face toward him.
“With you, it’s never been a fake thing. I told you long ago that all you had to tell me was that you wanted it all and you could have it. I may have made you think I didn’t care one way or the other, but the truth is, I’ve been waiting for you to catch up. I knew you would get here in your own time. I just had to wait. You make me feel things that I didn’t even think I wanted, let alone needed. I was fine with living the single life and winning races. But this last week has shown me that I need something more, and I want the blonde bombshell beside me when all that comes true.
“Whatcha say, Red? Wanna be my real girlfriend?” he asks with that beautiful smile he saves just for me.
“Why, you wanna be my boyfriend?” I ask, wondering what line he”s going to throw at me.
“So I can kiss you anytime I want,” he says, moving in to kiss me lightly.
Letting out a laugh, I reply, “Been watching Sweet Home Alabama, have you?” Once again, I’m laughing as he kisses me.
“What can I say? I love me some sassy blondes with smart mouths.”